Run by The Trentonian's Nick Peruffo, this blog will provide daily multimedia coverage of the Trenton Thunder.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Adam Warren's entry interview - Part 2

I was able to wrangle an interview with Adam Warren before Wednesday's Eastern League All-Star Game. He'll be starting tomorrow in Trenton. Here's the last part of what he had to say.

Q: Where do you peak now, with the fastball?

A: Lately I've been averaging 92. I hit 96 two or three times in my career, but usually it's 90 to 94.

Q: What would you say is your strength as far as offspeed pitches go?

A: As of right now, I've gotten to the point where I can throw all three for strikes most days. It changes from day to day (as to) which one is better in my opinion, because some days my curveball is my strikeout pitch. Some days my slider is.

It really changes from day to day. I feel like some days my offspeed pitches are better than others, not overall one is better than the other. Just being able to locate those for strikes is kind of a big thing for me.

Q: I was reading your blog the other day in preparation for this interview, and I noticed that Archbishop Desmond Tutu presided over your graduation from North Carolina. How cool an experience was that?

A: It was a little different. He was interesting. He's an interesting guy. He didn't talk too long, but it was kind of interesting to see how a guy like him, coming from a different culture, would talk to us. It was an experience hearing from someone coming from the kind of power from another country.

Q: Out of your four College World Series appearances, what is your most memorable moment?

A: Probably my sophomore year. I was a mid-week starter and didn't really pitch in conference much, but I had a pretty good year. Our first game, our No. 1 starter ran into trouble early and they brought me in and I ended up pitching, I think, four innings.

I ended up getting the win there. I think that was pretty neat, and that kind of helped me with my confidence and my development into the next year, when I became a starter for conference. That just really helped me, as a pitcher, develop that confidence.

Q: There's a lot of big names that have come from your class at UNC, Dustin Ackley and Alex White to name a couple. What does playing for such a high-level program do, you think, in terms of helping you advance more quickly once you get to the minor leagues?

A: I think it really did prepare me. Playing with a strong conference and having guys like Alex White there to push me. He would start on Friday and I would want to match him on Saturday. Friendly competition really pushed me better as a pitcher. For me, it really helped me out to play with guys like him who are going to push you a little bit to get better than where you are at that point.

Q: Moving from baseball, while you were at UNC, did you get a chance to meet Dean Smith?

A: I did not. I got to meet Roy Williams, but I didn't get a chance to meet Dean Smith.

Q: How was meeting Roy Williams, then?

A: It was pretty interesting. He supported us in Omaha. He came out to the games. He spoke to us in my first and second year going. He's a great coach and he gave us some inspirational words just to go out there and be a leader, that sort of thing, just some reassurance from a coach that has won a national championship. That's pretty neat.